Can a belief kill you?

[Leightonm]

Can an idea without any action kill you? And secondly, is belief an action?

 

[wavydude]

Of course it can, It's called depression with suicidal thoughts.

[Applegarden]

Well you certainly can choose to keep entertaining some beliefs or just be aware of them and unclutch from them over time. You can disperse one belief by installing another on top of that. Usually it happens much more complicated but yes, beliefs can kill you indirectly. 

[Forestluv]

18 minutes ago, Leightonm said:

Can an idea without any action kill you? 

It's unlikely, yet possible that an idea is so distressing that it could nerve a person to death, without the person taking any action. I've seen it happen suddenly in animals under duress, yet I don't know of any human cases. The closest would be someone dying prematurely. For example, someone in extended solitary confinement, could die prematurely due to mind-body duress - much of which would be ideas. Yet then it gets tricky trying to attribute causation. 

Something like severe depressive thoughts won't acutely kill a person, yet they can contribute to accelerated decay of the mind and body - depression-related inflamation and stress is toxic to the body. It would be like asking if eating foods with trace amounts of toxic pesticides can kill a person. It won't kill them during that one exposure, yet it adds up and will contribute to the decay of the mind and body. 

18 minutes ago, Leightonm said:

And secondly, is belief an action?

It depends on how you define "belief" and "action". 

[Leightonm]

Meaning depression and suicidal thoughts can kill without you actually committing suicide? The act. @wavydude

Edited February 24, 2020 by Leightonm

[Leightonm]

@Serotoninluv Belief: identification with thought.

Action: the doing of things, to put it simple.

[wavydude]

@Leightonm Sorry, I misunderstood your question. In that case I think it would be possible to think your self into for example heart attack also negative beliefs can lead to all sort of illnesses like cancer brain tumor which will kill you over time.

I heard of cases where someone's loved one died and then the spouse dies from heart attack/loneliness, I'm sure it's not that uncommon.

[Applegarden]

@Leightonm I mean stress in the body can decrease your health, fear and worry can cause some failure like a stroke and insult. U can get some adrenal fatigue, sleepless nights and your behaviour gets worse and you might not think about such things as proper diet and so on...

[Forestluv]

13 minutes ago, Leightonm said:

@Serotoninluv Belief: identification with thought.

Action: the doing of things, to put it simple.

By your definitions, a belief would not be the same as an action. Yet they could still be inter-related. 

[Leightonm]

@Serotoninluv interrelated, how?

[Forestluv]

5 minutes ago, Leightonm said:

@Serotoninluv interrelated, how?

If a belief is "identification with thought" it seems related to action, which is the doing of things.

For example, if a person believes that taking a vacation to Belize will help them relax and experience bliss, they are more likely to take the actions of planning a trip to Belize. If someone believes that visiting a jungle filled with terrorists would threaten their life, they are likely to take actions to avoid entering that jungle. 

[Leo Gura]

 

[Bjorgan]

11 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

 

Did you derp on this? No response and quote doesn't line up to topic in any understandable way.

Edited February 24, 2020 by Bjorgan

[Leightonm]

 

@wavydude negative beliefs, safe from negative action, has a negative effect on the body?

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Leightonm

[Leightonm]

@Serotoninluv what seperates belief and action?

It just seems as if belief is action without movement. It is someting being done; Unconsciously, but still.

Edited February 24, 2020 by Leightonm
Thought added

[Forestluv]

8 minutes ago, Leightonm said:

@Serotoninluv what seperates belief and action?

Great question. You get to explore and create these constructs. Perhaps contemplate that question, allow empty space and see what arises. 

There is no one correct, objective, universal construct of belief, action and there inter-relatedness. That can be frustrating to minds that like grounded form. Yet it is liberating for mind that like fluidity and an interplay between firm and formless. 

[Leightonm]

@Serotoninluv you just lost me. I will contemplate. Thank you.

[wavydude]

26 minutes ago, Leightonm said:

negative beliefs, safe from negative action, has a negative effect on the body?

For sure, also when you're in very negative headspace you're basically drawn to negative action.

[remember]

people died for centuries because of beliefs. for example if you think that the great walahullu will rescue and protect you from the vulkan demon you might want to sacrifice 10 maidens every spring - depending on the size of your village that might be more or less of a problem.

some think that’s how the aztecs lost their empire.

Edited February 24, 2020 by remember

[Nahm]

3 hours ago, Leightonm said:

Can an idea without any action kill you?

No.

Quote

And secondly, is belief an action?

Action’s a belief. (So’s death & the idea of you)